November 23, 2010

Verizon Offering 150 Megabytes Per Second

Verizon Communications Inc. is tripling its FiOS Internet service download speed to 150 megabits per second.

The new speed tier will cost about $200 per month, depending on the length of the contract and whether the subscriber buys Verizon's phone services also.

Cablevision Systems Corp. has been offering speeds of 101 megabits per second for $100 a month, while Comcast rolled out a 105-megabits plan this year.

Verizon's new speed could be useful for better upload speeds to send massive video files.

Spokesman Bill Kula said that Verizon hopes that the availability of higher speeds will stimulate the development of applications that can take advantage of them.

Verizon plans to offer the service to small businesses at higher rates before the end of the year.

FiOS is available mainly in the Northeast, Texas and California. However, not all of those 12.5 million homes will be able to sign up for the new Internet service. The older terminals installed in customer homes do not support the 150 megabit speed.

A public-sector alternative is even faster. A city-owned electrical utility in Chattanooga, Tennessee started to offer Internet service at 1 gigabit per second for $350 a month in September.